Christa Steele
CEO, Public and
Private Company Board Director
About
Highlights
- Mother of two young adults, avid golfer, who loves traveling and spending time with family and good friends;
- Strong success as both a CEO, Director, with a highly regarded public profile;
- Two successful business exits commanding premiums to market as a CEO and as Partner and Board Director;
- Direct involvement in Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain technology integration initiatives;
- Business transformation with direct P&L oversight;
- Deep knowledge of emerging technologies;
- Demonstrated ability to work across a broad range of industries.
Boardroom Expertise
- Unusually wide range of experience across industries, governance structures, sizes/stages of development, problem/opportunity sets, and roles;
- Industries served: Security technology and medical device technology monitoring, Financial services, insurance, wealth management, investment banking, neural technology, artificial intelligence, transportation, equipment leasing, waste collection, commercial investment real estate, food and agricultural;
- Public, private, family-owned, and ESOP companies;
- Companies of different sizes and stages of development - 8 board roles (including ASX and NYSE) from startup, scalable, to mature companies;
- Different problem/opportunity sets (including but not limited to)- Led DOJ Investigation, Special Committee and M&A boardroom oversight and extensive experience with Restructuring, Divesting, Scaling, CEO and C-Suite Succession, Business Disintermediation, New Market Entrant Disruptors, and Digital Transformation;
- Different roles - Chairman of Board and serving on all Board committees, including Chair of Audit and Compensation committees;
- Qualified as financial expert and known Governance expert.
Corporate Leadership
- Current CEO of BALCO Holdings Inc. owner of Bay Alarm, Bay Alarm Medical, BALCO Properties;
- Bay Alarm is the largest privately held commercial (80%+ of revenue) and residential security technology monitoring company in the United States. Product Mix: Alarm, Fire, Access Control (key card, fob, biometrics, etc.), and Artificial Intelligence Video Surveillance. Services: Monitoring, Installing, and Equipment Servicing. Highly regulated. 1,200+ employees, 24/7 live monitoring, 16 branch locations across CA, AZ, and WA.;
- Bay Alarm Medical is America’s #1 rated medical technology device monitoring company in the United States for seniors. Product Mix: Smartwatch, pendant and help button devices. Plug and play installation. Services: 24/7 live operator and monitoring across the United States;
- BALCO Properties owns and manages commercial investment properties in the Western United States consisting of 2,000,000 square feet and over 350 diversified tenants;
- President & CEO, Mechanics Bank, $500 million in market capitalization specialized in retail, commercial and wealth management products and services. As CEO, Steele led the improvement of core earnings 43% in a single calendar year, doubled the value in less than two years, and successfully led its sale for a premium in 2015;
- Partner and board member of FIG Partners, a full-service boutique investment bank (capital markets, IPO's, M&A, Fixed Income and High Net Worth asset management) with ten locations throughout the U.S., until its sale in April 2019 to Janney Montgomery Scott;
- Two decades (1995-2015) in senior level positions within the financial services industry where she led the execution of strategic initiatives, streamlined operations, implemented technology, led digital transformation, underwrote, structured, managed retail and commercial credit functions, grew new markets and oversaw M&A activity;
- Nationally recognized speaker, thought leader, guest lecturer - Blockchain, Big Data, and Corporate Governance.
Education
- MBA from University of Southern CA (USC);
- BA from California State University Sacramento (CSUS);
- Board qualified financial expert;
- Stanford Law School, Stanford Directors' College;
- NACD Board Leadership Fellow.
Data aggregation, data access and data privacy...hot topics
"Data is being aggregated at a speed it has never been aggregated before," Steele says. "We need to start thinking, 'How do we need to use data?"
Events
Virtual
Virtual
Virtual
Boardroom Governance Podcast with Evan Epstein
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Virtual
Virtual
Virtual
This unique panel will talk about when ISS and Glass Lewis proxy reports are useful both in “peacetime” and in “contested” times.
NACD Northern CA
San Francisco, CA
Virtual
Virtual
Virtual
What board members should know about the proposed changes to corporate and international taxation proposed in 2022.
NACD Northern California
San Francisco, CA
Virtual
Building the internet
Virtual
Blockchain and Digital Currencies
NACD
New York, NY
Building the internet
Building the internet
Building the internet
The future of the internet fueled by blockchain technology
CES
Las Vegas Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV
Demystifying AI
Building the internet
Building the internet
Bridge the gap between the promise of Artificial Intelligence and utilization at your company.
NACD & Armanino LLP
Nasdaq Center
San Francisco, CA
Board of the Future
Wall Street Journal Pro's AI Executive Forum 2020
Board Oversight Under the Microscope
Challenges faced by corporate directors in the new digital age and the changing trends of boardroom dynamics.
Corporate Directors Forum
Omni Hotel
San Diego, CA
Board Oversight Under the Microscope
Wall Street Journal Pro's AI Executive Forum 2020
Board Oversight Under the Microscope
Board oversight shifts and what directors should be thinking about as board responsibilities expand
Financial Times
Agenda Education
Webcast
Wall Street Journal Pro's AI Executive Forum 2020
Wall Street Journal Pro's AI Executive Forum 2020
Wall Street Journal Pro's AI Executive Forum 2020
Developing the Right Artificial Intelligence Governance
Wall Street Journal
Conrad Hotel
New York, NY
Virtual
Virtual
Wall Street Journal Pro's AI Executive Forum 2020
The Future of Boardrooms
INSEAD & Odgers Berndtson
San Francisco, CA
Virtual
Virtual
Virtual
Guest Lecturer
UC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Virtual
Virtual
Virtual
Leveraging the use of data during COVID
Diligent
New York, NY
NACD Magazine April 2020 Edition
"For a long time, it's always been, 'Be a fast follower' for the smaller institutions....This is not a time to be a fast follower. You'll get left behind." - Christa Steele